Illusion of Beauty
by MikomiCosplay
Summary: This story follows the Champion of Dibella and her struggle to fit in at the College of Winterhold. Will she let her title of Champion dictate her life? Will she try to be normal for once? How will she handle living outside of the temple? And why can't she figure out how to cast some freaking Illusion magic?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! So this is my first every fanfiction! I've written things in the past during high school and college, but they have all been in the genre of academia. I've never written a creative story in my life, so I figured I would give it a shot. Basically, I decided to start writing because I have too many friends who have English degrees and have been asking me to write for ages. I have several fun ideas for stories, but I'm only going to be working on this one until it gets finished. I hate it when authors don't finish their stories, so the one thing that I can promise you all is that I WILL FINISH WHAT I START! I appreciate and encourage constructive criticism; flames and trolls are not appreciated at all, and frankly, just make you a lame person as far as I'm concerned. The cover photo for this story is of my OC. The cover is actually of one of my cosplays I did earlier this year, before I even thought of this story. No, my OC is not in the Dark Brotherhood for this story, so just pretend they are regular mage robes :) Happy reading!**

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Chapter 1:**

Leann is tired, the most exhausted she has ever felt. She just made it to Winterhold after traveling for a week from Markath.

"It's a good thing I learned offensive magic after all." She muttered to herself. Just in the journey from Windhelm to Winterhold, she encountered necromancers, the undead, ice wraiths, and ice wolves. The annoying part was when she encountered the wolves within view of Winterhold's gates!

_I still can't believe that no one came to help out a traveling priestess! I should have purchased some light armor, even though I can't make much use of it. I would've at least been protected from the wolves' teeth..._she mused in her head. As soon as Leann made it to the city gates, she asked the nearest person where the Inn and College were located. Her magicka was still pretty drained from the journey, so she opted to spend the night in the tiny Inn. Then, when she was rested, she would approach the college.

It's the dawn of a new day, and Leann is anxious. She gets out of bed and stands in front of the small mirror in her rented room to check her complexion. She was pleasantly surprised at what she saw. Her long blonde hair did not look as dirty as it should have after traveling across the country for a week; her skin managed to remain scratch free during her trip as well. The only thing that was not to her liking were her eyes. They normally have a beautiful dark green color to them, but because of her lack of sleep the past week, they look bloodshot and dull. Leanne goes through her knapsack one final time: potions and poisons, check, clothes, check, gold, check. She finished up in her room by donning her Master Destruction Robes and a Gold and Emerald Circlet with Restoration and magicka fortification enchantments.

_Everything's here and accounted for; time to go learn some Illusion magic! _She thought with determination.

Leann makes her way to the College's entrance and is stopped by a male Dunmer.

"Halt! Why do you seek entrance to the College?" The Dunmer asks.

"I wish to study magic." Leann replies nervously.

"Well, judging by your robes, I would say you have already begun your studies" The Dunmer stated with a smirk, "What do you wish to study here?"

"You are correct in your assumption. I've been studying different magic schools for most of my life. What I came to this college to learn is the Illusion school of magic." Leann responded more sure of herself.

"Oh? Well, you're in luck; my name is Drevis Neloren, and I'm the Professor of Illusion here at the College of Winterhold." Drevis said, standing up a bit straighter. "Now, as for your test to enter the College..."

"_WAIT_! I didn't know that I had to take a test in order to be allowed entry." Leann interrupted.

"It is customary for each student to pass a trial to prove their magical aptitude. But don't worry; the tests are not too challenging." Drevis said without missing a beat. "As for your test, I think a simple Muffle spell will suffice, since you are going to be an Illusion student after all." He finished with a smile.

Leann gave an awkward laugh, "It figures that would be my luck..." she trails off.

"What do you mean?" Drevis interjected, "Surely, as an experience mage, you can cast an Apprentice level Illusion spell?"

"Well, if I could do that, it would defeat the purpose of coming here in the first place" Leann said with a hint of sarcasm. "Hah, I am completely and totally inept with Illusion magic; is there another school I could do my test from? I swear I actually am worth of the Master level robes I wear." She finished with a hopeful grimace.

Leann could see Drevis mulling her request over in his head. "I suppose you can summon an atronarch for me as your test." Leann shed her first smile since she left Markath.

"Thank-you! Here we go!" She summoned a large amount of magicka to her left hand, _Might as well show that I'm not a total invalid, _she thought as she conjured a Storm Atronarch into this plane.

"Welcome to the College of Winterhold," Drevis said with a smile of his own. "Now, if you would follow me, I'll show you around the grounds and where you will be staying during your studies here."

After Drevis started leading Leann to the great bridge, she went back to her usual reserved self. She was never really comfortable talking with people she was unfamiliar with, let alone of the opposite gender. Once they reached the courtyard, Drevis started talking about some of the history of the place. He showed her the Hall of the Elements, the Arcaneum, and finally, the dorms where Leann would be staying.

When he got to the Hall of Countenance, he turned to Leann and said, in a formal tone,"Welcome to the Hall of Countenance. This is where all of the Illusion students sleep. In your dresser, you will find a set of Novice Robes of Illusion; you are to wear those to any lectures and lessons as a 'uniform' of sorts. We are still waiting on the rest of the students to arrive, so classes will officially start next week. I sleep in this hall as well, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask them of me."

"Thank- you very much for the tour Professor Neloren; I will be sure to address you with any concerns I might have." Leann finished in a pleasant tone.

"Haha, it's just Drevis; we're not that rigid here!" He said with an amicable grin. "Have a good night, and I'll see you around the college."

"Good night Drevis," Leann replied with a smirk of her own.

Leann unpacked her small knapsack of supplies and searched around for her new robes. When she found them, she smiled and held them up to the light; she loved how they felt. She put them back and got herself ready for bed. Several minutes later, she got under her covers and thought to herself, _I'm definitely not in the Temple of Dibella anymore. _

**If anyone who has published stories on here has any pointers for formatting, any helpful tidbits would be greatly appreciated! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Chapter 2:**

Leann woke up from some of the best sleep in her life. _So this is what it feels like to not wake up at the ass crack of dawn. A girl could get used to this_! Leann said with a cat like stretch. She got up out of bed, got dressed, checked her reflection, which looked noticeably better after a good night's rest, and decided to go on the hunt for breakfast...well, more like lunch at this point.

After Leann found some food, she decided to head over to the main building and check out the Arcaneum. Just when she was about to turn into the Arcaneum, she heard a loud crack of electricity followed by a hoarse yelp of pain coming out of the Hall of Elements. When she enters through the main doors, she sees a Khajii kneeling over a man who appears to be badly hurt.

"Ugh, Divines J'Zargo, I said I wasn't ready yet!" The man said through a grunt of pain.

"What's the matter here? Is he ok?" Leann asks gesturing towards the man on the floor. Upon closer inspection, she can deduce he is a Nord, like her, around her age.

"J'Zargo and Onmond were practicing wards together, and J'Zargo used his lightning spell before Onmond was ready. " J'Zargo sullenly said with a lowered gaze.

"While I love talking about the cause of my current pain, can one of you please get me a healer now!" Onmund ground out impatiently.

"Oh!" Leann's attention snapped back to the injured Nord. "I can take care of that for you. Where did you get struck?" Leann went into priestess mode with this exchange.

"I got hit in my torso," Onmond added skeptically, "Are you qualified to treat this?"

"Well, considering I've been a priestess my whole life, I'd like to think I can handle a little lightning burn." Leann says with a raised eyebrow, "Open your robe and show me the injury."

Onmond reluctantly opened his robes to his waist to reveal an angry red and blistered burn that covered the front of his torso.

"Wow! No wonder you were knocked on your ass; this is brutal!" Leann exclaimed with a surprised expression.

"I thought you said you could fix this!" Onmond yelled.

"Calm down and give me a second." With a roll of her eyes and a momentary look of concentration, Leann cast Grand Healing.

"I feel perfect now!" Onmond exclaimed and jumped right up, testing out his range of movement.

"What's going on in here?!" A female mage questioned.

She had on Master level robes, Leann noted, _She must be one of the other professors here, _Leann thought to herself.

"What's causing all this noise? We could hear the commotion in the Arcaneum." Drevis said as he walked through the double doors. "Oh, hello Leann, isn't it a little soon to be creating mischief?"

"Professors Mirabelle and Drevis, it was J'Zargo's fault. J'Zargo and Onmond were practicing Destruction magic and Wards, and J'Zargo injured Onmond with a Lightning spell. Leann came when she heard yelling, and once she saw that one of us was injured, she provided her assistance." J'Zargo said with no small amount of chagrin. Onmund testified to J'Zargo's story as well.

_Well, at least they didn't lie about it_. Leann thought to herself.

"Very well", Mirabelle said, "I'll deal with you two later." She stated motioning to the two Destruction students.

"Well, this ended up being convenient for me." Drevis said with a clap of his hands. "I am gathering up all of the Senior Members for a meeting with the Arch-Mage. Leann, you are also to be present at the meeting, as it directly concerns you. If you would follow me, I can lead you to the Arch-Mage's office."

"Of course, Drevis. Um, I didn't do anything wrong, did I? I haven't gone through the rule book yet." Leann said sheepishly.

Drevis offered Leann a reassuring smile, "Not at all, in fact it is quite the opposite." he vaguely responded.

The walk to the Arch-Mage's chambers was very short for Leann; she felt very nervous and wished she had longer to calm her nerves. Standing before her was a female Altmer, a bald man, and elderly man, Mirabelle, another male Dunmer who had a very impressive goatee, and an irritable looking male Altmer wearing Thalmor robes. As Drevis and Leann walked over to the gathering of mages, they were greeted by the male Dunmer.

"Hello, Drevis, thank- you for bringing everyone here for me. Ah, you must be Leann, the topic of our meeting today. I'm Savos Aren, the Arch- Mage of the College of Winterhold." Savos finished with a flourish.

"Hello Arch Mage, it is an honor to meet you." Leann diplomatically responded.

After Savos and Leann exchanged their greetings, Drevis put his hand on Leann's shoulder, and Leann jumped. "Let's move out of the center of the room." Drevis murmered in her ear.

"Wha- oh, yah." Leann whispered back with a noticeable blush. Drevis led Leann over towards Savos at the head of the group. When they got to the front, Savos addressed the other senior mages.

"You all are gathered here today to discuss our new student, Leann. Drevis has informed me that in order to pass your entrance test, you conjured a Storm Atronarch. Leann, is this correct?" Savos asked with a calm demeanor.

"Yes, that is correct. Was it a problem that I used an advanced Conjuration technique instead of an easier technique?" Leann asked, confusion evident on her face.

"Oh, no child. We simply don't have many people come here for tutelage who are already casting on the Expert level. Also, something else that was noted upon your arrival were your Master Destruction robes. Why do you wear Destruction robes if you are a conjurer?" Savos asked with a pensive expression.

"That would be because I'm most proficient in the School of Destruction." Leann continues to elaborate, "I am Expert level in Conjuration and Restoration, but Destruction is where I shine. I mastered that school in about a decade of study." Leann looked around the room after her explanation and noticed a lot of skeptical looks directed at her. _Oh boy, hopefully i can smooth this out without having to reveal too much more..._ She thought up a course of action and quickly added, "I came here because I'm gods awful at Illusion, and I really want to become proficient in it. And I've never even attempted Alteration magic; it wouldn't surprise me if I couldn't cast a simple Candlelight spell." Leann finished with a forced laugh.

"You misunderstand our curiosity, Leann."Mirabelle said, "We are mainly where and how you recieved sucha diverse and exceptional education. Can you tell us how you came across such knowledge?"

Leann took a deep breath to calm herself and studied the faces in the room. Mirabelle looked reassuring, Savos looked like he wanted to find out for academic purposes, but everyone else she saw had ice cold looks on their faces that would make an ice troll seem hug-able. She snapped out of it when she felt a hand on her shoulder again. She turned to he side and noticed Drevis giving her a warm smile and a reassuring squeeze.

"We're not going to judge or expell you; we are all just genuinely curious." He said calmly.

"Well, the Restoration magic I learned from my grandmother when she was training me to be a priestess. I started studying Destruction from the Markath court wizard when I was twelve at the behest of my grandmother. I started learning Conjuration around the same time. I found it interesting, so I asked my teacher to teach me a basic summoning spell. It turned out I had an affinity for blowing things up and summoning atronarchs." Leann finished with a sigh.

"So, you mean to tell us that you are a priestess?" The cross looking Thalmor asked.

"Not exactly..."

"Ancano." The Thalmor stated.

"Ancano. I was raised and trained as a priestess, however, I am not one anymore." Leann stated with noticeable unease.

"One does not decide to quit being a servant of the gods; those vows are taken for life." Ancano scoffed. "If yo uare going to make up some farve about being a holy person, at least get your facts straight."

_Wow, this guy is irritating. _"And you should not let your obvious arrogance show so easily to an acquaintance, Ancano." Leann snapped back with a cocked eyebrow and a body posture that begged him to challenge her. "You do not know of which goddess I serve, my position within the religious hierarchy, or what my vows consist of."

"Leann, would you be so kind as too elaborate on what you are inferring with that statement?" Savos said with a pointed look. "Without bringing priestess vows into the scenario, it is a bit hard to believe that a court wizard would take the time out of their busy day to train anyone for an extended period of time without serious incentive."

Leann froze with that statement and realized that she would have to reveal more than she wanted to, to these people. "If I tell you all my position, you have to swear to the Divines that what I share doesn't leave this room." Leann said with finality in her voice.

Savos mulled it over in his head and made his decision. "Your terms are agreeable. If you tell us, we will not repeat it or discuss it with anyone who is not present in this room."

Leann sighed, "Ok, well, here's my story."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok guys, this is where I basically reveal everything. I thought about making it a story where things get revealed slowly, but I figured that it would make future chapters weird. I thought, if I was going to have her behaving a certain way, I should at least give details as to why the OC has some character flaws. As always, please review with your thoughts and criticism :)**

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Chapter 3**

Leann takes a deep breath and starts her story.

"I come from a long line of Dibellan priestesses and Champions. When I was born, to thank my family for their long years of service, Dibella gave me a blessing; I was to be the human representation of her both in looks and talents. Everyone who has ever lain eyes on me is always astounded by my physical beauty. After several years, the people of Markath took to calling me 'The Beauty of Dibella.' When I was a small child, I didn't mind; it actually made me happy to be compared to the goddess of beauty. It kept me smiling through my intense magical training."

Leann paused for a moment; she never had issues sharing the first half of her life, but the next part was always the hardest to tell. _Whenever I tell the next part, the judgement always starts. _Leann sullenly thought. "Now, like I said, my gift was great when I was younger, but the older I got, the more it turned into a curse."

With that sentence, Leann could see the room become confused. She started to get nervous at this point, and started fiddling with her sleeves. Leann cast her glance down, unable to make eye contact for fear of losing her nerve. "Once I started to turn into a woman, the innocence of my blessing was lost. Instead of compliments, peoples' words of kindness turned to scorn. When I would leave the temple on errands, the girls who I used to consider friends, became my enemies, spewing vitriol at every opportunity. The boys I used to play with, started to harass me, say all kinds of lewd things to me, and try to manipulate me sexually."

Leann paused again to collect herself. _At least the looks of confusion are starting to go away. The Dwemer cogs seem to be turning. _She mused to herself. "Around this time, I started training in offensive magic. I managed to keep most of the abrasive situations out of the temple and from the knowledge of my grandmother, the head priestess, but unfortunately, one of the city boys came into the temple to seek me out. He was one of the young men who were trying to get me to fall into their beds, because they wanted to, and I quote, 'Know what it was like to fuck Dibella incarnate,' or so they claimed."

At this point in her story, she got several looks of shock from the female mages in the room. Leann steeled her expression and started again in a voice filled with righteous anger. "When I said he should leave, he didn't take that too well. He smacked me around and dragged me out of the temple. Luckily enough, he didn't get far before a guard stopped him, but he got far enough for my grandmother to become paranoid. The next day, she instated the temple rule that men are forbidden to enter the temple. That was the same day that I started studying Destruction magic as well."

Leann looked around the room at this point and watched what she just revealed sink in. Everyone is wearing somber expressions, even the Thalmor, Ancano. "My grandmother wanted me to be able to protect myself, since things continues to get worse. We even thought about having me train in armed combat, but as it turns out, I'm basically a savant at magic. I couldn't even cut a branch with a blade haha. Any how, shortly after this debacle, Dibella decided to announce me as her new Champion."

At this point, Leann got a very surprising reaction from the mages, or lack of reaction. This caught her very off guard.

"So you are a young woman who has been blessed with ethereal beauty, and you are also Dibella's Champion. Perhaps I missed something, but why do you wish to learn Illusion magic?" Drevis broke the silence. He didn't look upset or angry, but he did look genuinely confused.

Leann thought really hard about how to word her answer. She really didn't want to come off as a scared child to the senior mages, bu the true reason is fueled by her fear and desire to live as a normal human for once. "I want to hide my beauty." Leann said with finality. "I'm just tired of the solitude it creates. I'm tired of women hating me for stealing their love interests. I'm sick of inspiring infidelity in married men, just because of my pretty face. I'm sick of people not being able to look past my physical beauty. I just want to be normal! I head that masters of Illusion can hide their true forms, and this is what I want to do."

"But do you really think changing your appearance will solve all your problems?" Mirabelle asked with a concerned air about her.

With that question, Leann became irate. _Of course, they try to patronize me over this, _she angrily thought. "Do any of you know what it's like to be called a harlot, to be blamed for multiple failed marriages? Well, I do." Leann shook her head with disgust; her voice raising in volume. "Men I don't even know, whom I have never spoken to left their wives and families to try to pursue me. Now, I would never meet these men, since they can't enter the temple; no, I would find out from grieving and angry wives. The first few times, I was able to rationalize that it wasn't my fault. But after it kept happening, it became harder to convince myself of my innocence. I stopped leaving the temple; I would sometimes stay holed up in the ritual chamber for days on end, just to avoid interaction with people. On the rare occasion I would leave to walk around the city, I would hear the whispers about me, 'There's that harlot, don't let her be seen by the men in your family, or she'll bewitch them and steal them away from you.'"

"I'm sick of being that person. I know, logically, that I've done nothing wrong, but after years of this, I just want a chance to be a normal woman. I want to know what it is like to have friends, to be able to talk to a man without being looked at like a piece of meat the whole time. If I could master Illusion, it gives me a chance at living a normal life when my Champion duties are done; a shot at being a part of a community, of friends, and of finding love." Leann paused for effect and to collect her thoughts. "I know that it's not going to solve my problems, but it will at least help control them."

"Well, you have a very unique situation, that is certain. Will you let your previous experiences dictate how you learn and interact with the faculty and students here?" Savos asked, thinking hard about what he learned about Leann.

Leann thought hard about how she was going to answer. She came here to learn and to start with a clean slate. No one here knew of her life as a Champion and priestess, so she had a shot at having normal interactions with people. The only thing is that she doesn't know what is considered "normal" for her age...

"I came here to learn and to have a clean slate; I don't intend to squander this opportunity. I know that it will be a lot of culture shock on my end, and I will ahve to adapt quickly, but I am willing to do whatever is necessary." Leann stated with notable resolve on her face. _They have to at least give me a shot to prove myself!_

"I'm glad to see that you are determined to put forth the effort required to better yourself." Savoc said with an approving smile. "Since you are such a unique case with an advanced knowledge of magic, I think you should be taught and treated differently than a standard student here."

Leann gave a very confused look. "I'm afraid I don't quite follow." She said with furrowed brows.

"As you can see, we are a bit under staffed for the number of students we are taking in this year. My desire is for you to be an official tutor for the Destruction and Conjuration students. This way, you will have peer interaction in a mutually benefiting setting: the students get private tutoring on challenging projects and research, and you get interaction in a controlled environment. Also, I think you would best benefit from private lessons with Drevis, so you can learn at your own rate. Drevis, is this agreeable with you?" Savos inquired.

"Yes, Arch-Mage. I agree with Leann's background, I think it would be best if she did private lessons." Drevis said with a smile. He felt horrible for how she was treated by her town._ By Azura, she was a Champion of an Aedra! If a Champion of Azura was treated half as bad as Leann, the aggressors would have been sentenced to death!_

Savos studied Drevis closely; the two of them have been friends for many decades, but rarely has he see Drevis show so much emotion about a topic, let alone a female. He made a mental note to ask Drevis about it later. Now to find out if the female in question will agree to the terms of her stay. "Leann, do yo uagree to my terms, and do yo uahve anything to add?" Savos gently asked.

Leann squared her shoulders and turned her body to face the Arch-Mage. She spoke in a clear and firm voice; for once, she sounded like the Champion she claimed to be. "I agree to your generous terms, Arch-Mage; however, I have one term of my own. I wish to keep my identity as Dibella's Champion a secret. Unless I specifically decide to tell an individual, no one finds out. If anyone asks, I'm simply a priestess trying to further her magical education."

"Then we have an accord!" Savos exclaimed with a pleased smile and an outstretched hand. Leann returned the gesture with a giant smile of her own, a muttered "Thank you so much", and a reciprocal handshake. Her smile lit up the room, completely banishing the previous tension. _That must be part of her blessing, _Savos thought to himself. _She was able to influence the emotions of everyone present when her own became strong. I wonder if she does it consciously?_ He mused to himself. "This meeting is adjourned. Leann, you are free to leave." Savos declared.

All of the mages scattered and left Savos' chambers quickly to get back to their individual research and lesson plans. Leann and Drevis ended up leaving together, and Leann decided to initiate some conversation.

"You know, I know we've just met each other, but don't you think a little warning would've been nice?" Leann chuckled.

Drevis smirked at her quip._ Never would have thought she'd be the sarcastic type. This is an interesting development._ He laughed then impishly stated, "How was I supposed to know that my new student had such a great burden weighing on her shoulders? You weren't exactly talkative during your extensive tour. Most of the time, I get at least a laugh out of the new student." At this point, Drevis could see Leann noticeable blush. _Ah, and she blushes easy, this will be fun indeed. _He thought.

"Ok, I'll give you that one." Leann stuttered out, attempting to save face. "I'm just going to go and read in the Arcaneum." After saying those quick words, Leann scurried off to avoid further embarrassment. All the while thinking, _At least books don't tease me._


	4. Chapter 4

**Maximsk: Thank you so much for the positive review! It really is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, so I'm glad people are liking how it's turning out. I did fix the spelling of OnmOnd's name in this chapter, and I will go through the preview chapters and fix that when I have some free time :)**

**Guest: Awesome! Please keep leaving feedback, so I know how you like it :D**

**Illusion of Beauty **

**Ch. 4**

Leann had a very secluded weekend. Rather than try to interact with the other students, like she was supposed to, she spent her time wandering around the college (alone), staying cloistered up in her room, or reading in an abandoned corner of the Arcaneum. What can she say, it's not like she was going to change a decade's worth of social habits in a couple days! If she was being perfectly honest with herself, it was her fear keeping her from making an attempt to make friends, which made her feel pathetic. _Well, time to go on my daily walk around the grounds._ Leann thought with a smile.

Leann stood up and stretched. She ran her fingers through her hair to make it presentable, and she started putting on her boots.

"Maybe things have changed since I was a student a couple decades ago, but wandering about alone and avoiding everyone in general isn't going to endear you to your peers any." Drevis said out of nowhere.

Leann screamed, turned around, and proceeded to trip over the chest she was sitting on. _Well that might have been the most graceful action I've ever done._ She thought while still in a heap on the ground. "You scared me." Leann said in a deadpan voice while getting up, without any help from Drevis, mind you. _Imp,_ she thought about calling him, but decided against it. "What brings you creeping about my humble abode?"

"Why haven't you gone out and met some of the other students? You've been here a week, and you haven't even talked to anyone." Drevis pointedly accused of her.

"How do you know what I have or have not been doing with my time?" Leann said with a very skeptical face.

"As fun as it would be to say I was stalking you, Onmond actually asked if you were still around." Drevis said. _I already made her fall over once, no need to tease her more...today. She's so jumpy, it's like I have to tease her a bit._ Drevis mused.

Leann became even more confused at that. "Who is he? Did I ever meet him?" She asked.

"You really don't remember him?" Drevis asked, eyebrows raised high. "He's the Nord you healed before telling all of us Senior Mages your deep, dark secrets." He paused and saw the connection dawn on his pupil. "Onmond wishes to thank you for doing such a thorough job; apparently, the burn didn't leave any mark." Drevis finished.

"Oh, I remember him now; he was kind of a wimp about the whole thing." Leann mused. "Well, if you see him again, you can tell him you passed on his thanks." Drevis gave her a very cross look at that sentiment. "Or, I could tell him myself if I run into him?" Leann finished half questioning, half scared at that glare. _Dark Elves can seriously give the best angry faces..._ Leann shuddered.

Drevis sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. _She really is completely oblivious to social subtleties._ He thought. "That would be the point of me coming here to tell you, yes." Leann looked bashful at this point. Drevis sighed, _I'm going to be doing a lot of this, I suspect._ "He was heading into the Hall of Elements when he talked to me; he's probably still there if you want to find him now." He not so subtly hinted.

"Yah, um, I'll go do that now. Ah thanks for passing on the message." Leann thanked him on her way past him.

Drevis ruffled her hair as she passed him, "Not everyone here bites, try talking to epople; it will help you make friends!" He called after her with a laugh.

Leann made her way to the Hall of Elements and stepped through the main doors. She noticed that there was a class of sorts, so she moved in what she hoped was an inconspicuous way to the back of the room. She had no such luck.

"Ah, it seems we have one last straggler. You're very late, but since it's the first day, I'll let it slide." The old man said with a warm smile. "So tell your classmates your name and tell us why you wish to study Destruction magic. Oh, and before I forget, I am Professor Tolfdir, and I teach beginner level Destruction students." Tolfdir finished.

"Oh, I'm not a Destruction student; I was just wandering and didn't know that there was a class going on right now." Leann said a bit edgy from being called out in front of the class. "And my name is Leann; I'm new in the School of Illusion."

"Oh, you're Leann, wonderful!" Tolfdir exclaimed, taking Leann off guard. "Class, this is the tutor I mentioned at the beginning of class. If you have any issues understanding spells in the schools of Destruction and Conjuration, find her and set up a study session. Keep in mind that she only tutors one student per session." Tolfdir finished, "Leann, is there anything you'd like to add to the class?"

Leann thought about if she had anything to tell them. She never tutored anyone before, so she didn't really know what her strengths are. _I suppose I'm best at practical application, since I never really paid too much attention to the theory part._ Leann thought back to all her lessons in the past, _I literally only learned things through trail and error. That could be a bad thing depending on how these students learn._

"As far as my teaching style is concerned, I prefer a hands on approach, rather than telling you to read about it in a book. If trial and error doesn't work for you, you might not want me as your tutor. Also, I'll only tutor around my own studies, since I'm also a student." Leann said stiffly. _Jeez, I've done public speaking once, and I already hate it._

"Leann, I have a question, where will we be able to find you when we want to set up tutoring sessions?" A Nord male asked.

_Oh! I think that's Onmond._ Leann remembered. "I spend most of my time either wandering the rounds, in my chambers in the Hall of Countenance, or in the Arcaneum, Onmond." Leann returned with a small smile.

"Well, I think this is a good place to end our lecture today. Class is dismissed." Tolfdir said.

With that, everyone started dispersing out of the hall. Leann, though frazzled from speaking in front of a whole class, figured she should probably go over to Onmond and speak to him. She spotted him on the other side of the room speaking with a female Dunmer.

"Hi Onmond, Drevis told me you were looking for me?" Leann bluntly asked, wanting to get right to the point.

"Onmond, you know our tutor? That's cool! How do you two know each other?" The Dunmer girl asked, obviously shocked.

"Ah we don't really know each other, Brelyna, more like she helped me out of a painful situation several days ago." Onmond replied a bit awkwardly. _Of course the first time I see her since having an awkward first meeting, it's awkwards for another reason!_ Onmond mentally face-palmed.

"Yah, uh, he and another mage had a mishap while practicing some spells, and I fixed him up after he got injured." Leann supplied after Onmond's vague description.

"Oh, ok." Brelyna said, "Well, it was great talking to you, Onmond, but I think I'm going to retire for a bit before dinner. See you around!"

With that Onmond and Leann were along now in the hall. Leann was still an anxious mess when it came to being alone with a man, but Onmond didn't seem too bad. _Plus, if he tries anything, I can just incinerate him._ She added as a confidence boosting afterthought.

"Yah, uh, I was looking for you because I didn't get to thank you for healing me. You did an amazing job, so thank you." Onmond broke the silence, then added "I also wanted to apologize for being initially rude. Being injured was not an excuse to be disrespectful to the one who was trying to help me; especially because you're a priestess." At this point, Onmond looked really abashed and nervous.

This completely caught Leann off guard. Never once had someone thanked her for healing them, let alone apologized for their rude behavior. _I literally have no idea how to respond to this._ Leann thought. As she was standing there like a deer staring down a giant, Onmond, once again spoke up.

"If my apology wasn't satisfactory, I could do something else." He stuttered out.

Leann came back to her senses. "Oh, no, your apology and thanks were great!" She exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to being thanked or apologized to from my patients; you just caught me off guard is all." Leann finished with an embarrassed smile.

This caused Onmond to raise his eyebrows. _What type of temple did she work at that she wasn't extended such simple courtesies?!_ He thought, completely baffled. "What temple did you work at, if you don't mind me asking?" Onmond asked, curious what temple would allow one of it's priestesses to be disrespected so frequently.

"I was a priestess of Dibella at the temple in Markath." Leann replied.

"Really?! I'm from that area too! I grew up in Rorikstead, small world, huh? I never thought I'd meet anyone from my home territory here at the college!" Onmond enthusiastically said.

"Oh, yah, wow small world." Leann said, equally as shocked.

Onmond was even more confused now. He knew for a fact that the priestesses at that temple were loved by the citizens of Markath; they told him so every time he'd go to the city with his father. It's weird that the town would love all of the priestesses but her._ Might as well ask her about it, _He thought. _I hope she doesn't get mad at me for asking._

"Is there a reason why you were disrespected so? Whenever I would visit Markath, the townsfolk would always speak highly of the servants of Dibella." Onmond inquired.

'Shit! I didn't think he'd put two and two together. Now I have to come up with a convincing cover story.' Leann thought quickly. She could pull the "It's not your business" card, but she doesn't think that will be a friendly thing to say when he is obviously making an effort to get to know her.

"Uh, it's a really long story, why don't I tell you when I have more spare time?" Leann responded, hoping he would accept her dodging the question. _It'll at least give me time to come up with an answer._ She thought.

"Oh, yes, that's fine. Do you have somewhere to be?" Onmond asked.

_What's up with all the questions!_ Leann mentally screamed. "Yes, I have to go and do some errands." Leann flatly replied.

"Ok, well I'll see you around." Onmond said as he turned to leave.

"Goodbye, Onmond." Leann replied. _Now to go hide in my room!_ Leann thought, happy at the prospect of not having to interact anymore today.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok readers, this will be the last update until next week. I'm super busy with finishing up some cosplay projects, and I'll be out of town this weekend. Hopefully though, my chapters are improving, so the wait is worth it :D Anyhow, I figured I'd explain some things about Leann's character. I keep referencing a bunch of different bullying and harassment she's had to deal with in her life, and people deal with that stuff differently. I decided to have her deal with it by shutting herself out to others to exemplify trust issues. I also gave her a sarcastic personality because another way to deal with adversity is to hide behind sarcasm in order to keep your true feelings hidden to others. Not going to lie, I've personally been guilty of both of these bad habits lol. Also, I finally introduced the Dragonborn in this chapter (yay!). I hope you like my depiction of him; I figured the DB is supposed to be larger than life, so I hope I interpreted that well enough in his description. As always, let me know your thoughts and constructive criticism; I also like knowing what I'm doing right! So if you have anything that you specifically like about this story, let me know!**

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Chapter 5**

Leann left the Hall of Elements as quick as she could without seeming like she was trying to flee. _'Well that went better than I thought it would.' _ She thought as she made her way across the large courtyard. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't see the mountain of a man before her until it was too late. Leann bumped into something really hard and large. She ungracefully fell on her butt for the second time that day._ 'This better not become a new habit,' _she thought as she started getting up.

"Hey watch where you're going Blondie." A gruff voice said out of nowhere.

Leann looked up and was face to face with the biggest man she's ever seen._ 'More like face to shoulder' _she thought. _'He's huge! I'm almost six feet myself, but he's got at least a head on me!' _He was completely covered from head to toe in a full set of Daedric Armor, so she couldn't make out any of his features/. The made him even more formidable looking.

"I'm so sorry sir, I got lost in my thoughts and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings." Leann said quickly.

When she finished speaking, she looked back down to the ground and noticed a trail of blood following Mister Tall, Dark, and Scary.

"Holy shit! Are you bleeding?!" Leann exclaimed. "I must have bumped into you harder than I realized." She said with concern.

"No, you didn't; you just opened up an injury is all." He responded hastily.

"Well, it looks like you're bleeding quite a bit. Can you show me the injury, and I'll heal it for you. It's the least I can do after opening up the wound." Leann said, extending a proverbial olive branch.

"I'm not taking off my armor outside when it's snowing. I'm not THAT resistant to cold." The man deadpanned.

"Oh yah, that would be stupid." Leann trailed off with a weak laugh. "My room is right through those doors; I can patch you up in there." She said with a straight face.

"Ok, let's go inside." The man agreed.

Leann led him into the Hall of Countenance. She led him through the hall to her room as quickly as he was willing to move. When she got to her room, she broke the silence.

"If you could take off the armor over the injured area and tell me how you received the injury please." Leann inquired.

"Ok, I'm going to need help taking some of my armor pieces off." The man said, "And if you're going to be helping me take off my armor and healing me, I'd like to know who to thank." He added as an afterthought.

"Haha, I probably should give you some credentials. My name is Leann, and I'm an Illusion student here at the college. I also am a tutor for the Destruction and Conjuration students. I am an experienced priestess of Dibella, so I'm very proficient in the School of Restoration. Can I be extended the same courtesy now?" Leann said with a mirthful smile.

"My name is Valdemar, and I'm the Dragonborn." He said while taking off his helmet.

Leann was in awe when he revealed his face. She heard stories of the Dragonborn, but none of them talked about how handsome he is! He had thick, wavy black hair that was chin length. He had heavy brows over top striking gold eyes; they really stood out against his pale skin._ 'I guess this is how men feel when they look at me.' _She seriously thought.

"We should start with my bracers; they'll be the easiest to get off." Valdemar said while holding his arms out.

Leann began taking Valdemar's heavy armor off starting with the gauntlets, then the chest plate, and finally the boots. When she got off all his armor, she was in complete shock at what she saw. What she imagines was once a white linen shirt, was now completely red with fresh and dried blood.

"I'm going to need you to take your shirt off, or what's left intact of your shirt." Leann swallowed thickly. "Can you tell me how and when you got this?"

Valdemar grunted in pain when he stripped off his shirt and started talking.

"I got this earlier today on the way into town, and the scaly bastard who did this to me was an Ancient Revered Dragon. The reason I'm still alive is because I downed a bunch of health potions."

When Valdemar removed his shirt, Leann gasped. He had three, long and thick claw marks going from his left shoulder to his right hip, and his chest was covered in nasty bruises. 'He has at least several broken ribs on top of those giant lacerations; how in Oblivion is he not passed out from pain!' She wondered to herself.

"Oh wow. I literally have no idea how you are still conscious with the amount of pain you must be in." Leann said with a very sad look on her face. "First, I'm going to have to clean this up in order to prevent infection, so you might as well get comfortable." Leann said while grabbing a jug of clean water, basin, and fresh linens. "How about you have a seat on the chair by the table." She said with a smile.

She spent the next few minutes carefully cleaning the blood from the top of his torso. As she cleansed the blood away, she was able to get a better look at his injuries.

"Well, I have good news," Leann broke the silence, "The claw marks are not as deep as I thought. The are also not very jagged, so there should be minimal to no scarring." She finished with a smile

As Leann continued cleaning his wound, Valdemar lost himself to his thoughts._ 'Man, I wish she could clean this up quicker; it hurts like a dragon lit a fire under my ass. Oh, wait, that did happen.' _He thought sarcastically._ 'At least she's nice to look at. I wonder where she's from; I've never met a Nord woman quite like her.' _He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt her hands on his lower abs.

"What are you doing?" Valdemar bruskly asked. _'When did she start kneeling between my legs?!' _He thought frantically_ 'Ok, play it cool; don't need her thinking I'm a lecher.' _

_'He must be better at blocking out his surroundings than I thought,' _Leann mused. "I'm cleaning the rest of your wound. It extends to your hip." She spoke like it was the most normal thing on Nirn. "I'm actually about done, so we can move over to the main event."

"Ok, so what's next?" Valdemar asked, feeling a bit dumb about spacing out just now.

"Next, I do some minor healing on your wounds to stop the bleeding. Then, after that short phase, I'm going to heal your ribs and finish on your wounds." Leann said in a professional tone.

"Why are you healing the wound in parts?" Valdemar asked.

"To conserve my magicka," Leann paused then added, "You'll see why when I start on your ribs."

With that, Leann laid her hands on his shoulders and cast Healing Hands for a few seconds. Through her concentration, she felt Valdemar tense up,_ 'So he does feel pain after all. If he's flinching at this, I'm going to have to distract him, so he doesn't jerk too much when I start on his ribs.' _

"You have very unique eyes. I've never seen a Nord with gold eyes." Leann said out of the blue. _'Why in Oblivion did I say that?! Now he's going to think I've been staring at him like a hormonal fangirl!' _Leann thought with a large amount of embarrassment.

Valdemar stared down at her when she spoke. He did not expect her to ask that; most people are too unnerved by him, let alone at his face long enough to notice his unnatural eye color. 'Hm, she's got more balls than half the men I've met since becoming Dragonborn, and she's cute when she blushes. Wait, what did I just think?! I don't think things are cute, I kill things for my job. I'm a warrior, not a sissy man.' He thought wondering how much blood he really did lose.

"They weren't always like this." He sighed

"What do you mean?" Leann asked, obviously confused.

"My eyes changed in Sovngard. After I slayed Alduin, I got to behold Shor's Hall. My eyes will forever reflect the glory I beheld in Sovngard." Valdemar sadly said.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm thankful that you killed Alduin. I like living, and I don't know what your eyes looked like beforehand, but I think they are beautiful, if it's any consolation." Leann said with a small smile.

"Thanks. It's good to know there's one person I don't completely unnerve with my presence." He said with a laugh.

"You, unnerving? Not at all!" Leann exclaimed. "In all seriousness, maybe no one would be unnerved if you wore armor less creepy than Daedric Armor." Leann laughed.

"My armor is unnerving? It's the best armor I can make though, and it's very practical for my line of work." Valdemar said shocked, once again. "Wait! What did you think when you first saw me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Leann immediately donned an impish smile on her face. "Are you sure you want to know?" She asked in a sing song voice. _'Almost done. I just have to keep him distracted for a little bit longer.'_ She thought.

"Haha, yes, I'm sure. Come on, it can't be that bad." Valdemar laughed.

"I don't know; I have a very creative mind when it comes to name calling." Leann said with a coy smirk.

"Try me, don't leave me hanging Blondie." He shot back.

_'And finished!'_ Leann triumphantly thought. "Actually, I can because you're finished." Leann said with a smile.

"That's not fair!" Valdemar exclaimed.

"Considering I just saved your from death, I think we're even." Leann deadpanned.

"So you were just toying with me the whole time?" Valdemar yelled.

"Well, it distracted you from the pain, right? And keep your voice down! I don't want people gossiping." Leann shushed him.

"Well that was just about the sneakiest bedside manner I've ever experienced." Valdemar said with an incredulous smirk._ 'Blondie intrigues me.'_

"So since I'm done fixing you up, I kindly request you leave me room. See, I've been forced to interact with people all day, and I just want to be alone. Plus, you smell like you were eaten by a dragon." Leann quipped with a return smirk.

Valdemar laughed at that. No one has talked to him like that in years! _'I'm the savior of Skyrim; this girl has some serious balls. I wonder what makes her tick.'_ He thought to himself, trying to process the past hour or so.

"Ok ok, I can take a hint Blondie; I'll get out of your hair. But, after I start smelling like mountain flowers again, I want to see you again." He said wit ha giant, goofy smile.

Leann laughed._ 'I literally can't remember a time when a man made me honestly laugh.' _"Yah, sure, if you can find me; I tend to avoid people." Leann said with a straight face.

"I'll take that as a challenge." Valdemar chuckled, "I'll see you later, Blondie."

With that, Valdemar left Leann to her much desired solitude. _'I can't believe this, but I actually hope Valdemar sees me again.'_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for the update taking a week longer than planned. Long life stories short, I broke my ankle last week and have been doped up on meds because of it, my new laptop still hasn't come in from HP, so I'm stuck using my husband's work computer until later this week, and my son started teething again. Plus, I've been doing a lot of work for Anime USA and working on my Nightingale Armor collaboration. Good news is that a good chunk of my AUSA stuff is done, AND I have made great progress on my new cosplays. I already have the next chapter written out; I just need to proofread it. This is just basically going to bring back your interest to my little story until tomorrow when I upload a longer chapter :)**

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Ch. 6**

Leann has had a crazy week. After her run in with the Dragonborn and introducing herself to Tolfdir's class, she's had a lot more social interaction than what she was used to. 'And to think, I always wanted to be known in a positive light. At least when everyone hated me, I didn't have to hide in order to have alone time.' She grumbled inwardly. 'I need to o somewhere where the other students won't find me; if I don't get peace and quiet soon, I'll lose my mind!'

Leann went through a mental list of possible places she could hide, but unfortunately, the list was very short. The only place on college grounds that she could think of was Drevis' room. She felt conflicted about asking him to help hide her for a day, but she ended up reasoning that he could simply say no if he wasn't inclined to help with her introversion. She made up her mind; she was going to seek out the quirky Dunmer and hope he felt generous today. Leann hopped off of her chair with new found resolve and made her way to his room. Luck was on her side today; Leann ran into him literally on her way to his room.

"Ooph." Leann grunted as she stumbled to regain her balance.

"You know Leann, you should really pay attention to your surroundings; you won't always run into someone as charming as me." Drevis chuckled.

_'If only you knew.' _Leann thought. " Actually, you are just the man I was looking for!: Leann greeted him with a giant smile, after she regained her bearings.

"Oh? And why is that?" Drevis inquired, very curious.

"Can I stay in your room today?" At this point, Drevis' eyebrows raised almost into his hairline. _'Crap, that probably sounds weird.' _Leann facepalmed. "I know my request is pretty random, but I really need a new hiding spot!" Leann hastily explained.

"Can't you just hide in your own room? And aren't you not supposed to be avoiding everyone?" Drevis rebutted with a serious expression.

_'Dangit, he's giving me the scary look again.'_ Leann shuddered, "Please stop giving me the 'Death Glare of Doom', I've been a good little mage all week; I just need some time without a lot of people. I think I'm experiencing culture shock, and I just need some quiet time to find my center." Leann explained in greater detail.

Drevis gave her a blank look. _'Well, I did say my door was always open for her.' _He wighed his options mentally._ 'I suppose I can oblige her, but not without teasing her first; she becomes uncommonly cute when flustered, for a Nord anyways.' _Cue, Drevis' impish smirk.

"I didn't know that you desired my private attentions so much that you would request to spend a whole day alone with me in my chambers. Apparently, my 'Death Glare of Doom', which you so9 eloquently termed it, isn't as effective as I previously thought it was." Drevis stated as he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest.

Leann cursed her pale complexion. _'Arg, I can practically FEEL myself blushing! I never used to blush at quips like that; why do I do it now?!' _"Th-the only reason I asked you was because my room isn't a safe-zone; the students know where it is and keep coming to it to try and strike up a conversation. I even have the Drogonborn now constantly trying to get me to hangout with him!: Leann excitedly stuttered out, complete wit harm gestures and pleading eyes.

_'That might have been the most adorable thing I've seen while at this college.'_ Drevis thought, a bit shocked at the effects his taunts had on her. " Ok, no need to get all flustered, I was merely jesting with you is all." He said turning to the side holding his arm out in a signal to come closer. "Come on, you can stay in my room today."

Drevis led Leann up the stairs to the second floor where his room was, but as they neared the top of the stairs, they heard Valdemar asking a student if they have seen Leann. This cause both Drevis and Leann to stop abruptly. Drevis descended to Leann quickly and firmly grasped her smooth hand in his larger one. Leann took a quick step back towards the wall in surprise.

"What are you-Mmph!?" Leann started to question, but Drevis quickly put his other hand over her mouth to muffle any retort.

Drevis closed in on her when he silenced her and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. _'She smells like lavender.' _Drevis noted offhandedly. "Be very quiet. I'm going to turn us both invisible, and we're going to sneak by him. Don't let go of my hand, or you'll become visible again." Drevis muttered against her ear.

It literally took all of Leann's willpower to not noticeably squirm while Drevis whispered his plan of action in her ear. The chill that went down her spine was most unexpected as well. _'The mer is going to drive me insane.'_ Leann mentally freaked out about the rather intimate position Drevis had her in. She snapped out of her stupor and nodded her head to signal she understood the plan.

At her cue, Drevis removed his hand from her mouth and summoned his magicka. He quickly cast Invisibility and gave Leann's hand a squeeze to get her to follow him. They sneaked their way up the rest of the stairs and silently crept around the Dragonborn. Valdemar smelled a light scent of lavender and turned around trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. This caused both Leann and Drevis to stop in their tracks. Leann tensed up and grabbed his arm in anticipation. _'Wow, his arm is surprisingly solid. I did not expect that.' _Leann thought, grateful for being invisible, so her blush was hidden.

"Nirn to Valdemar! What's wrong?" The random mage asked.

Valdemar snapped out of his concentration and turned to face the mage. "What? Oh, I thought I sensed a presence behind me; I could've sworn I randomly got a whiff of lavender." He replied, still on guard.

"I don't smell anything; it must be your dragon senses or something." The mage shrugged. "Well, I'm off, I hope you find who you're looking for."

With that, Valdemar started off to the other end of the hall, walking right by Drevis and Leann completely unaware. Once he was a decent distance away, Drevis unfroze and started to tug on Leann, to get her to follow him the rest of the way to his room. When they reached his room, he quickly opened his door and pulled them through, then closed his doors equally as fast. Leann went to lean against the door. As she did, she heaved out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

"Well that was nerve wracking!" Leann exclaimed. She stared at the Dunmer in front of her; he didn't look the least bit phased at all. "I'm glad at least one of us was able to keep their wits about them." She said with a smile.

Drevis however, was lost in thought._ 'How did he know she was there? That was the most powerful Invisibility spell I used.' _He then remembered that the Dragonborn commented on smelling lavender._ 'Wait?! How does he know what she smells like?! I had to basically bury my face in her neck and hair in order to smell her!' _With that train of thought, he started losing his cool and jumped to the worst case scenario.

"Hey Drevis!" Leann called with a raised voice, trying to get his attention.

"Hm yes? What is it?" He responded a bit too quickly, breaking out of his inner debate.

"Ah, can you let go of my hand? As much as I love having you hold it, you're squeezing my hand really hard, and it's losing circulation." Leann spoke with a puzzled tone. _'Why was he spacing out just now?' _Leann wondered to herself. As she thought this, Drevis dropped her hand like it was burning him. She immediately missed his touch, which confused her.

"Sorry." Drevis ground out and took a step back from her. "This is my room, make yourself at home."

Leann looked around his room in awe. It was over twice the size of her room, with a very large bed, an enchanting and alchemy station, bookshelves filled with books and magical objects, a simple wooden table and chairs, and a large wardrobe._ 'Wow, I guess the professors get the nice chambers. I should stay in his room more often.' _

"You have a very nice room; it is literally over twice the size of mine." Leann commented with a chuckle.

"It's one of the perks of being a professor over a pupil." Drevis said dryly. "Do you want a drink?" he asked politely.

"Yes, that would be wonderful, thank-you, Drevis." Leann replied, her focus back on the Dunmer.

Drevis walked over to a bookshelf he dedicated to his potions and drinks. _'If I'm going to get her to tell me about her relationship with the Dragonborn, I might need to loosen her tongue. She doesn't seem the type of openly talk about her relationships, judging by how innocent she comes of as.' _He mentally calculated he still didn't know what bugged him more, the fact that the Dragonborn could have potentially been all up in Leann's personal space, or the face that he was getting worked up over it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Illusion of Beauty **

**Ch. 7**

He pulled out two goblets and a bottle of wine he had since before the Red Moutnain erupted. "Here you go; this should ease your mind a bit." Drevis offered, with what he hoped was a tone of nonchalance.

"Oh, thank-you." Leann replied/ With that, the duo made their way over to the table and chairs on the other side of the room. They sat down opposite of each other and slowly sipped their wine. Each studied the other, looking for a cue to break the silence. Leann was the first to crack, after having about half of her goblet.

"This wine is delicious; I've never had anything quite like it. Where did you procure it?" Leann inquired, silently hoping it was somewhere local, so she could purchase a bottle for herself.

At this, Drevis let out a hearty laugh. "I'm afraid I do not know where one could still come across this wine." He paused for effect, then continued, "I purchased this wine back in Morrowind, right before the events of the Red Year took place. Needles to say, since most of Morrowind was destroyed, it is safe to assume that most of this particular brand of wine was also destroyed."

"If it is so rare, then why drink it now; why not save it?" Leann asked, curiosity peaked.

"Because my Nord friend, I wanted to save it for a special occasion." He supplied with a wink.

Leann flushed_, 'Why does he have to always be so damn flirty! And why do I keep reacting like this?!' _"I you've been saving it for over 200 years, why use it now? I hardly think drinking with me is a worth reason." She stated with a puzzled look.

"Well, I think sneaking past the Dragonborn with a beautiful woman who so happens to be Dibella's Champion is a pretty unique experience." Drevis stated simply.

Leann sighed, "When you put it like that, I suppose it has been a pretty incredible day." Leann conceded, then another thought struck her. "Wait! If you bought this befoe the Red Mountain, then you have to be over 200 years old!" She exclaimed.

Drevis laughed loudly at her deduction_. 'Leave it to humans to get rield up about the true age of an elf' _"What about my age surprises you? It is common knowledge that elves age much slower than humans, or is it because I have dashing good looks for my age?"

"Actually, yes. I knew that elves age much slower than humans; I just didn't know the difference was that drastic." Leann explained. "You don't look a day over thirty, so a couple years over 200 is quite a surprise." Leann finished with a coy look.

This took Drevis by surprise. He didn't expect her to be so blunt abut her thoughts on this topic_. 'Maybe she's been relaxed enough by the wine for me to find out about her relationship with the Dragonborn.' _

"I suppose I can understand were that could be surprising." He conceded. "Speaking of surprising revelations today, I was shocked that the Dragonborn was looking for you; normally, he keeps to himself." _'Please let her take the bait.' _He thought.

"Really? Valdemar has been pestering me all week, asking me a ton of questions; I just assumed he was like that with everyone." Leann answered, clearly thinking about her interactions with him.

"That still doesn't really explain why he was searching for you though." Drevis pushed.

"Beats me." Leann shrugged "I ran into him on my way back to my room and noticed that he was badly injured, so I took him back to my room to heal him. He had one if not the worst injury I've ever seen! It took me over an hour to bring him back from the edge off death; I worry what his life is like, since he thought the injury wasn't a big deal," Leann shuddered at the memory of his rended abdomen. "He probably just wants to thank me or something; I've kind of been blowing him off since healing him haha." She gave a halfhearted laugh.

This confused Drevis even more. _'For such limited interaction, Valdemar really seems interested in his new Illusion student. Leann seems to be pretty apathetic towards him, unless she's lying, but she didn't seem to be lying. She also didn't seem to over think her answer so it probably was truthful.' _Drevis thought, trying to reason away his negative, prior conclusions.

"Oh, ok, I was just curious is all." He said, trying to end the subject.

"You and me both!" Leann agreed with a laugh.

At this point, Leann broke her attention away from her teacher and started looking around his room again. She was gazing over at his night stand, and she saw a familiar instrument.

"Divines! Is that an ocarina?" Leann exclaimed, getting up to walk over and examine it, "It is! I've never seen one outside the temple before! Do you play?" She asked wide-eyed.

"No, I don't I'm afraid. I tried when I was younger, but I had absolutely no talent for music." Drevis laughed, then asked, "Do you know how to play?"

"Of course I do! I wouldn't be a good representation of Dibella if I wasn't a musician." Leann said with a smirk. "May I?" She gestured at the little ocarina.

"Yes, please do; I've never actually heard anyone play one before." Drevis handed her the ancient instrument.

"That's probably because hey're ancient; very few people even make them, let alone practice playing them." Leann said, like she was giving him a history lesson. She proceeded to play a sweet melody with the potato shaped instrument.

Drevis was amazed at what he was hearing. The few times he tried to make some noise with it; it would sound either shrill or airy, nothing like what she was doing with it. When she finished, he decided to speak up.

"That was beautiful! I had no idea that as ocarina could sound like that!" He exclaimed, clearly impressed. "How did you learn to play?"

"I taught myself when I was a child. I found one of these in the temple and just tinkered until I figured it out." Leann said nonchalantly. "When I was older, I learned more about their history and found out how rare they are."

"That's even more impressive then. Do you have your ocarina here?" Drevis asked.

"No, I left it at the temple. Technically speaking, it was an artifact, so I couldn't take it with me." Leann sullenly answered.

Drevis could see the disappointment on her face, and decided he hated when she radiated that emotion. "How about you have this one then since I can't play it. It should get used for its intended purpose after all." Drevis said with a smile.

"Oh no! I couldn't possibly accept such a priceless piece of history!" Leann rejected, clearly flabbergasted at the prospect of someone giving away such a priceless treasure.

"I insist.." Drevis replied firmly. "It has been collecting dust for years in my possession, and I think it's time it had a new owner. My only request is that you play for me again." He smile and held the ocarina out for her to take

Leann stared at hi for a moment before reaching for the instrument. "Thank- you so much, Drevis. Really, this is the nicest gesture anyone has ever offered me. I'll be sure to play it often and take great care of it." Leann took the offered instrument and spoke with great sincerity.

"You are very welcome, and I hope you enjoy it." Drevis said with his usual smile.

With that, Leann looked out of the window to see that the sun had left the sky. had left the sky. _'I can't believe that it's already night! Time just flew by with him.'_

"It looks like it's gotten pretty late now, so I should probably head back to my room. Thank- you again for allowing me to stay with you for the day; I had a wonderful time." Leann smiled _'I've been smiling a lot today.' _Leann noted.

"Of course, Leann, I enjoyed your company today as well. You can stop by whenever you want, and have a good night." Drevis paused, "Oh, and before I forget, your private lessons will begin next week, so how about you meet me in the library mid day, this day next week?"

"Or course, see you then!" Leann called as she walked out of his room.

As Leann was walking back to her room, she had many thought swimming through her head. The loudest of which was about how Drevis is the kindest man she's ever met.

**I'm doing an end note for once! Some insight as to why I chose to implement the ocarina into my Skyrim fic, when what most people relate an ocarina to is The Legend of Zelda. Ocarinas have actually been around for thousands of years, dating back to somewhere in the ballpark of 2,000 B.C. (don't quote me on that). I figured since Skyrim is like a medieval ancient civilization love child, it would fit nicely in within the world. They were originally used as a children's wind instrument, hence why Leann found it interesting as a child. They can be made out of many different materials such as, ceramic clay, bone, metal, or wood, and they normally have between four and 12 holes for the different notes. Though they are easy to learn how to play, a lot of people have issues learning how to make the proper sound out of them, because they are breath pressure sensitive (think like a really easy version of a flute or clarinet). If you don't breath properly, you will get either a shrill note that varies in pitch (which sounds god awful) or an airy sound. Needless to say, if you don't have some natural musical inclination, it is difficult to teach yourself without any instruction. Now, I know all of this good stuff, because I've been playing the ocarina for over 15 years. You can thank my obsession with Zelda as a small child for that.**

**I also wanted to focus on as many of the aspects of Dibella as I could in this story, and she is the patron goddess of the arts as well as all of the sexy things. I figured if I was going to play off Leann as the mortal representation of Dibella, I needed her to be good at one of the arts, and music and performing is so much more fun to incorporate than painting :P**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry about the super long delay in my updates (T^T) Once again, I've been super busy prepping for the upcoming Anime USA WHICH IS NEXT WEEKEND! I'm really busy doing stuff for that and getting around a bunch of my cosplay stuff. After October is over, I should have a more regular update schedule, since I'll have more time to actually write. As always, please review and provide feedback; feedback makes me super happy \(^o^)/**

**Illusion of Beauty**

**Ch. 8**

Over the past few weeks, Leann has been spending most of her time in the Arcaneum. Since having her first Illusion lesson with Drevis about a fortnight ago, Leann found out that despite Drevis' nonchalant and laid-back disposition, he was uncommonly bookish. He assigned her several books to read through about the theory and application differences between Illusion and the more offensive schools of magic. Because Leann had no prior Illusion training, she did not posses any of these books. Hence, why she has been holed up in the Arcaneum. '_That damn Orc could at least let me check out one at a time, but NO! He's convinced I'll destroy it if his books leave this musty library.' _ She thought, thoroughly annoyed at this point. It's not that Leann minded being there; it was one of the places in the college she frequented of her own volition, but she grew weary of reading in the same place every day. She needed a change of scenery, and fast, lest she was going to lose her mind.

As if on cue, Leann sees a mage standing in front of her table over the top of her book. She glances up briefly to see who it is. "Hello, Onmund, is there anything I can help you with?" She stated evenly, still reading her book.

"Oh, I just needed some help learning a Destruction spell, but if you're busy, it's no big deal." Onmund finished with a wave of his hands. Leann finished reading in silence for a few moments, not even acknowledging his question. "Really, it's no big deal; I'll just be-"

"I'll help you. Let's just get out of this dreary place." Leann interrupted with a snap of her book. She noticed his shocked expression then added, "I wanted to fins the page before I set it down." With a smile, she got up and stretched, "Shall we be going?"

"Oh, yes!" Onmund said, surprised at how easy it was to talk to her this time around. He proceeded to lead her out the back doors and up the stairs until they ended up on the roof. It wasn't too cold, since Spring was right around the corner.

"So what spell do you need help with?" Leann asked after looking around at the Sea of Ghosts.

"Hehe, it's kind of embarrassing, but I can't figure out how to do Frostbite." Onmund scratched the back off his head awkwardly. '_Please, don't think I'm an idiot.' _He pleaded mentally.

Leann stared at him blankly for a moment. '_I distinctly remember seeing him use an Apprentice level shock spell. If he can do that, he should have no issue with a basic ice spell.' "_Are you sure you're telling the truth? I saw you using other, higher level spells a few weeks ago. Plus, you're a Nord; we have the easiest time learning ice spells over any other element."

Onmund fidgeted slightly and gave a sheepish laugh. "There was a reason why I brought you up to the roof. For some reason, I just can't seem to get a grasp o nice. Frankly, I'm embarrassed because of the reasons you've mentioned, and I didn't want to risk any of my classmates finding out."

'_The poor guy is really self-conscious about this.' _Leann observed. She offered him a warm smile, "Don't worry, it will be our little secret." She said with a wink. "And honestly, it's not that big of a deal; everyone has something that doesn't come naturally to them. Like me and Illusion magic!" She finished with a laugh.

Onmund's face lit up after she finished her pep talk. "You have no idea how happy you just made me!"

Leann was slightly startled by Onmund's outburst; she didn't think she did anything special. "A-ah your welcome. Well, do you want to get started then?" Leann stuttered out, positive she was blushing.

Leann and Onmund stayed up on the roof practicing for several hours, with very little progress. She could see that he was starting to get aggravated with his lack of noticeable improvement, so Leann thought she'd try one final tactic. "Ok, how about we approach this from a different perspective." Leann said with what she hoped was a confident tone.

"What do you suggest? I feel like I've tried everything!" onmund yelled. Leann raised her eyebrows at that. "Sorry Leann, I'm just getting frustrated is all." Onmund conceded.

"I want you to search inside yourself for the ice." Leann stated; At seeing his confused face, she elaborated, "Several centuries ago, Nords had an innate, racial ability to summon an arctic cold to their hands to attack their enemies with in close quarters After the Oblivion Crisis, Nords started withdrawing from magical practices, and thus, lost part of their connection to their dominion over ice."

"I'm not going to lie, I've never tried that method before." Onmund stated, clearly contemplating this new idea.

"Haha, that doesn't surprise me!" Leann laughed then noticed that he was yet again, confused, "The only mages that

can actually teach this way are Nord masters in Destruction, and in all of Skyrim, there are only a handful of mages who fit that criteria." Leann finished with a proud air.

"Well, then I guess I'm fairly lucky that we are at Winterhold at the same time." Onmund smirked, "So where do we begin?"

"I want you to search deep inside yourself for the unmelting ice that's within every son and daughter of Skyrim." Leann paused for a while, then continued, "When you find your inner ice, come and see me for the next step." And with that, she left him to his meditation.

As Leann was making her way through campus to her room, she reflected on her study session. '_Man, tutoring is harder than I thought it would be. We were up there so long, I missed lunch.' _As if on cue, her stomach audibly growled. "Shhh, quiet, no one wants to hear that." Leann muttered as she patted her stomach.

"No one wants to hear what?" Valdemar asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Damnit, Valdemar, you scared me! When did you get here?" Leann asked after composing herself.

"I was just wandering around about to go get dinner when I saw you. Which, actually, seems to be perfect timing on my part." He said with a smirk. "Would you like to go to dinner with e? It's the least I can do ater you saved my life and all. Plus, I haven't had anytime to talk to you since we met." He finished with what he hoped was a charming smile. '_Please say yes.'_

Leann regarded him for a moment and decided he seemed to just want her company. "Ok, You know, you're lucky I missed lunch and am starving." Leann said with a smirk of her own.

Valdemar smiled back at her, "Well love, ladies first."


	9. Chapter 9

**So sorry about the lack of updates in over a month; I'm a horrible author (T^T)) Once again, life got in the way of me writing. I had an interview on ABC News about cosplay, which I wore my Nightingale Armor ****on. Not going to lie, I feel like a pretty badass cosplayer, since I got to be on a news segment wearing cosplay, and the interview was done in a positive light (yay!). If you guys want me to share a link of it, mention in the comments or in a private message, and I'll post it in my next chapter update and on my bio page. I also had to finish up a couple costume commissions and work on some scheduling for my modeling work. I'm also going to be in two more issues of We Rise Magazine for my cosplaying and modeling work! And on top of all of this, I'm finalizing the contracts for my first appearances as a cosplay guest in 2015! I have lots of stuff going on in my life for cosplay, and I hope it all works out :) As far as my ankle is concerned, my physical therapy didn't work, so now I have to get more tests done to find out if I need surgery or not _ I REALLY hope I don't need reconstructive surgery. That would seriously suck.**

"How about we go sit by the fire?" Valdemar asked, "I don't think those Novice Robes of yours look very effective at keeping the cold away."

Leann laughed, "You would be correct. I'm pretty cold. You'd think since the students are forced to wear these, that they would be made to be appropriate for the climate here." She finished with a displeased look. "It's a miracle I haven't gotten sick yet."

Valdemar laughed with her as he took off his helmet. "Well, if you get cold easily, maybe you should get some Daedric Armor like me; I'm never cold in this." He said as he knocked on his chestplate."

"Yah, because the professors would let me just waltz around in demonic armor," Leann deadpanned.

"You never know, they let me do it." Valdemar shrugged off his bracers.

Leann looked at him like he said something exceptionally stupid "That's a totally different thing though! You're a living legend; I just happen to have extensive prior training. Plus, the Arch-Mage said the College was understaffed." Leann sputtered out obviously flustered. _'Crap, I hope he doesn't know more than he's letting on.'_ Leann mentally freaked out.

_'She is obviously hiding something._' "Mhmmm. Well, since I no longer look like I just walked out of Oblivion, I'm going to go order us our food." The Dragonborn left the table with a wave over his shoulder.

As the Nord warrior walked over to the br, Leann lost herself in thought. Valdemar was the focus of her mental debate; _'He's nice enough, but e makes me really uneasy. Yah, I saved his life and all, but that probably happens a lot with him. He does kill dragons for a living after all. He must be near death a lot in that line of work.'_ Leann was brought out of her thoughts with Valdemar's return.

"They don't have much selection here, so I just picked up some stew and ale," Valdemar spoke as he brought over their food and drinks. As he sat down across from Leann, he offered her a quick smile. The heat from the fire was starting to warm Leann up; her face was a tad flushed from the heat of the hearth.

Leann smiled back at him, "Thank-you, Valdemar; it looks tasty. How many septims do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it; it's on me." Valdemar declared before popping the lid off of his ale and took a long drink.

Leann, with a shocked expression, "Are you sure? I mean, I really don't mid paying for my meal."

Valdemar gave a chuckle, "I'm sure, Leann. Eat up and enjoy."

"Ok, thank you Valdemar," Leann spoke while digging into her stew. After a few mouthfuls, she went to take a drink of her ale. As she was trying to get the lid off, she realized it wasn't a twist off. _'Crap, I can never get the pop off lids off._' Leann pouted at her bottle.

Valdemar watched her glare at her bottle for a bit, enjoying seeing Leann break her normal poker face. "As cute as you pouting at your ale is, I don't think it is an effective method of getting that lid off." At this, Leann's head snaps up, and green eyes meet gold. "Here, let me get that for you." He reached across the table and grabbed the bottle out of her hands. As he did that, his hands brushed hers a bit, and she jerked them away with a very evident blush. He pops the lid off and puts the ale in front of her.

"Thanks, I can never get those damned lids off. I'll make my hand bleed before it would even budge." Leann trailed off with a humorless laugh.

"It's no problem. I'd imagine in comparison to dragon slaying, being a priestess produces much fewer callouses." Valdemar said in good humor.

"You are correct!" Leann laughed, "You'll especially get a kick out of this little factoid; I can't wield and weapons or armor." Leann stated matter-of-factly.

"What, really?! Not going to lie, that's pretty rare for a Nord. Did you just never have the opportunity to learn, or do you just lack the aptitude?" Valdemar asked, wide-eyed and completely surprised._ 'Now this is an interesting development.'_

"A little bit of both actually." With a gesture from Valdemar to continue, Leann elaborated, "Well, even though I'm really gifted with offensive and restorative magic, I have absolutely no ability to wield weapons. I end up hurting myself more than the training dummy. And as far as people willing to train me, well, there wasn't very many people who were willing and able to train me." Leann finished with a distant look.

"I can understand the not being physically gifted with weapons part, but Markath has a lot off soldiers and mercenaries, how could you have not been able to find a teacher?" The Dragonborn asked, clearly confused.

_'Crap! He's familiar with Markath! He doesn't know who I am though, which is good. Maybe I should just tell him the part about how the men treat me? It will probably get him to stop asking questions. And he can relate to an extent, since he even mentioned before people treat him differently due to being Dragonborn.' _"Well, see, it's kind of a long story, but le's just say you're not the only one who gets excluded from society for things beyond their control."

Valdemar's brows furrowed at that. "What do you mean?"

"First off, this doesn't leave this table. I don't want my life to become the topic of gossip around the college." Leann firmly declared.

"Of course. I won't utter a word." Valdemar responded equally serious. "We haven't known each other long, but considering you saved my life without knowing I was Dragonborn, speaks volumes of your honor, and I would be a horrible hero if I responded with anything less."

Leann studied the Dragonborn for a long moment. _'Both his words and his actions towards her suggested that he was an honorable man; more so than what she grew up with at the very least.'_ She thought with a sliver of hope, ''Maybe he can bring me out of my shell.' "I don't really get along with the men of Markath...at all.

"One day, when I was a teen, t he men of the town seemed to come to the collective agreement that I was too beautiful to be left to my own devices. I started getting solicited whenever I would leave the temple to run errands or go to the castle for magic lessons. After a while, it escalated from street harassment to physical advancements. It got to the point where I couldn't safely leave the temple. One day, some of the guards got severely injured during a Forsworn attack and needed emergency healing. After I finished treating my patient, who I saved from the brink of death, mind you, he proceeded to grab me, and he started dragging me out of the temple to do things to me. I'm not going to talk about them because you can use your imagination and probably be right. Well, anyways, he was dragging me down the steps of the temple, and obviously, I was freaking out, trying to get him off of me, when this random man comes up. I guess the guy was new in town because when he saw me getting manhandled, he knocked the guy out without hesitation! I ran back to the temple, told the head priestess what happened, and the next day, men were banned from the temple for my protection. Needless to say, the townsfolk weren't too happy that men couldn't enter the temple because of 'some harlot' So in a nutshell, I left Markath to escape the abuse."

Valdemar was silent for a long while after Leann finished speaking. He has a lot of emotions running through his mind, but the two most powerful ones hes feeling are sadness for Leann and anger towards the men of Markath. _'This definitely explains why she is so jumpy around me. If every guy I ever met growing up tried to turn me into their personal sex doll, I'd be very jaded towards all men as well.'_

"If I knew all I had to do to get you to stop badgering me was tell you my sob story, I would've told you weeks ago!" Leann said with a sad smile, "But seriously, a septim for your thoughts? You've been staring at me for a few minutes now."

Valdemar's eyes softened at her words, and he carefully worded out what he was going to say, "Sorry, I was just processing everything you told me. I just have no idea what would cause a man to treat a young woman like that, let alone a priestess! I mean, I'm a Thane in Markath, and I know there were a lot of lowlifes in the city before I dealt with them, but I never heard of what was happening to you from anyone. How many years ago id they shut men out of the temple?"

"About five years ago. It happened in my late teens." Leann replied.

"That would be why I never heard of you; I got to Markath about three years ago.. Do you ever plan on going back? Do you have family there?" Valdemar asked.

"I have my grandmother back in the temple, and I really miss her. But it would be really hard for me to build up the courage to go back there. I'm starting to get used to guys not being completely vile to me haha." Leann said with a far away look.

"Well, if you ever want to go back for any reason, just let me know, and I'll be your escort." He grinned at her.

Leann stared at him incredulously. "I couldn't possibly inconvenience you like hat; it would be at least two weeks out of your schedule!" Leann exclaimed. "Plus, it's not a cheap journey; I burned through half of my money just traveling here."

"You could inconenienve me, it's what friends do. I have a house there, a housecarl who I'm sure wants to go dragon hunting with me, and some men that I need to teach some life lessons to. Also, if you are seen in town with me, I'm fairly certain no man would dare try anything scatological with you ever again." Valdemar stated matter-of-factly.

That caused Leann to bust up laughing. "And why would me being seen with you deter any future harassment?" Leann asked coyly.

"That, Blondie, is because no one in their right mind wants to risk pissing off a dragon. I have few friends and even fewer of them are women. If you are seen with me, guarantee that everyone will assume you are permanently off limits if they want to keep their heads." Valdemar spoke with an air of divine power about him. The power of an immortal dragon.

Leann noticed in that moment that Valdemar had more to him than she initially thought. _'Who would've thought that the Dragonborn would be such a genuinely nice man.'_


End file.
